Russia is preparing an attack on nuclear power plants in Ukraine, Zelensky warns / Moscow has already carried out reconnaissance missions, military intelligence services say
Nuclear power plant Ukraine. Credit line: Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP / Profimedia
Moscow wants to strike the substations connected to the three active nuclear power plants in western and southern Ukraine in order to completely disconnect Ukrainians from heat and electricity, Ukraine's military intelligence service (HUR) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Saturday, Kyiv Independent reports.
In the dead of winter, Ukrainians across the country are already facing limited electricity and heating as Russia destroys Ukraine's energy facilities. But disconnecting the nuclear power plants would make the crisis even worse: people would be completely without electricity and heating.
Russia's strategy is “to force Ukraine to accept unacceptable surrender demands to end the war,” HUR reported on Saturday.
According to HUR, Russia has already carried out reconnaissance missions over ten critical energy substations in nine regions of Ukraine.
The announcement made by Zelensky
On Saturday evening, Ukrainian President Zelensky said that he was informed by the head of HUR, Oleh Ivashchenko – recently appointed to replace Kirilo Budanov, that Russia is targeting Ukraine's nuclear system.
“We do not see any desire on the part of the aggressor to respect any agreement or to end the war,” Zelenski said in his speech to the nation, quoted by The Guardian.
“On the contrary, there is abundant information about preparations for further Russian strikes on our energy sector and infrastructure, including on the installations and networks that serve nuclear power plants. Each such Russian attack on the energy sector, in the dead of winter, hardens, weakens and undermines the efforts of key states – especially the United States – to end this war,” said Zelensky.
Electricity is needed at nuclear power plants for safety reasons, such as the operation of reactor cooling systems. If an operating plant is disconnected from the grid, it switches to backup diesel generators to continue operating. If these generators fail, a nuclear meltdown can occur within hours, Kyiv Independent notes.
